Kaulig Racing is taking another step towards going it alone, with team CEO Chris Rice revealing that, after \u201cpausing\u201d its Xfinity Series program to focus on its new Craftsman Truck Series partnership with RAM, it has sold off most of its cars.<\/p>\n
Rice explained on SiriusXM NASCAR<\/a> Radio that 20 of Kaulig\u2019s Xfinity Series cars are in the process of being bought by a team that will have a partnership of some kind with Richard Childress Racing – something Kaulig recently terminated. This decision will also affect its Cup Series team, which is still slated to field two cars in 2026, driven by Ty Dillon and AJ Allmendinger.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re gonna be out on our own on [in the] Cup,\u201d Rice said in October, via Daily Downforce<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to be [in an] alliance with RCR and do those things\u2026So we [are] building our own Cup program, building our own bodies and different things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n However, should Kaulig \u201cget a wild hair to go run somewhere\u201d in the soon-to-be-renamed O\u2019Reilly\u2019s Auto Parts Series soon, it is keeping hold of a few cars, as per Next Line Racing<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the long term, Rice said Kaulig intends to return to the series<\/a>, recently telling SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, \u201cYou guys will see us back in the Xfinity Series in the coming years, but we got to pause it for a little bit and we got to sit back and push ourselves to build five wonderful trucks for RAM and also keep our Cup program where it’s at.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n Rice later added, \u201cWe’ve got to make sure that the RAM trucks are where they need to be and, you know, those guys have taken a huge chance on us and we want to show them we’re behind them to build this thing pretty big.\u201d<\/p>\n When this comeback could take place remains up in the air; however, when it does, Rice is holding out hope that \u201cthey have open arms and welcome us back as much as we love the Xfinity Series.\u201d<\/p>\n Upon its O\u2019Reilly\u2019s return, there seems to be a very real possibility that it won\u2019t be in partnership with Chevrolet. With Dodge, which, like RAM, is owned by Stellantis, expected to make a move for the Cup Series at some point in the not-too-distant future, Bob Pockrass<\/a> previously suggested it \u201cwould also have an Xfinity (O’Reilly) program and Kaulig would return to the series then.\u201d<\/p>\n DON’T MISS<\/p>\n Dodge becoming the O\u2019Reilly Series, and perhaps also the Cup Series, fourth OEM appears to be plausible, with a Stellantis representative having previously said, as per NASCAR<\/a>, \u201cI think we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do to get these five trucks on track first, and then Cup is the next thing on our agenda to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n